Back at Hillerska! Netflix Young Royals season two

 

If you are a little bit up to date with the releases on Netflix, then you might know that Young Royals season 2 aired on the first of November (2022). Young Royals is a Swedish series, written by Lisa Ambjörn, that has become an integral part of Netflix, especially when looking at the LGBTQ+ representation on the streaming platform. The first season aired on the first of July in 2021. Many people first waited anxiously for the renewal of the series and afterwards they waited for over a year for the second season to air.

 

I myself have been writing and reading a lot these past months about the representation of the LGBTQ+ community on streaming services, more specifically on Netflix. More on this is coming soon. Article after article and book after book gave me more insights about why exactly this representation matters so much and about how this representation should have been there from the start. Because at the end of the day it is extremely important that people can find themselves in the characters they see on screen. In a way it shows them that they are not alone.

 

Hear me out, until a few years ago, I didn’t understand the need of talking and writing about the representation of the LGBTQ+ community and diversity in media, for example series. At the end of the day, they were just normal series I liked to consume. If the representation of the LGBTQ+ community was there it was normal to me; diversity has always been a part of my reality! The problem here is in the words “me” and “my”.

My normalcy, when it comes to the representation of diversity is, unfortunately, not everyone’s normalcy.

So yes, if these series are good or even amazing like this one in my opinion, then I will talk about them, I will write about them and I will promote them, that is the least, I can do. If there is something that I truly believe in, it’s that every step into the right direction matters, no matter how big or small it might be. Starring some phenomenal young actors, YR has both, a storyline and performance that captures the viewer from the very first minutes and the LGBTQ+ representation that is needed more in the media that are consumed.

 

It is safe to say that I was one of those people who have been waiting anxiously for the second season to air. I’m not ashamed to say that I couldn’t wait to rewatch it, to analyse and to interpret it in my own way. I wanted to know how the different storylines would develop and I couldn’t wait to see the depiction of emotions, feelings, fears and anxiety, cause the actors did a phenomenal job with that in the first season. Spoiler alert, from my perspective season two was just as good if not better when it comes to the depiction of intense emotions, sentiments, worry, panic, uneasiness and everything in between. Young Royals has some incredible actors and I even dare to say an amazing team!

 

Let’s dive right into the sea of thoughts I had after watching season two. If you haven’t seen Young Royals (YR) yet, I encourage you to definitely watch it before reading this, because this will contain certain spoilers!

 

Where are we after the first season?

One of the (many) things that stands between Simon and Wilhelm is the fact that when the video of their first time was leaked (If you’ve watched YR which I’m kind of going for in this, you know what I’m talking about. Key phrase, close your curtains ;)), Simon his face is visible while Wilhelm’s isn’t. Wilhelm tells Simon that he is going to confess that it was him during the statement he has to make, but when the time comes, he lies and tells the world that it isn’t him who was there with Simon. All of this obviously leads to broken trust on Simon’s part. Which results in season one ending with crown prince Wilhelm telling Simon that he loves him and Simon telling Wilhelm on his part that he hopes that he has a nice Christmas.

 

The soundtrack

First of all, I found it lovely how they used the incredible voice that Omar Rudberg (Simon in YR) has and made it a key aspect of this second season. Obviously, Simon and Omar Rudberg are two completely different people, that’s why they are actors. But I hope that you understand when I say that the singing (and love for said singing) feels like a connection between the both of them. Rudberg has an almost angellike voice that sounds soft, yet also very powerful. The lyrics will make you weak in the knees. From the viewers point of view, it is clear from the first time you hear the song, that Simon is singing about Wilhelm even though Wilhelm self needs a bit more explanation to understand that. The song that Simon sings during season two (“Simon’s song”) can be listened to on many different streaming platforms.

 

Looking at some different songs in the soundtrack is one of my favourite things to do. So of course, I couldn’t skip it with this immaculate second season of YR.

 

We already talked about the song Omar Rudberg sings named “Simon’s Song”, but there are many more songs and artists featured in this season’s soundtrack. In a beautiful set of scenes Wilhelm listens to “Lonely ones” by LOVA and honestly it is a beautiful example of how strongly a scene can be supported by music. The lyrics are on point, while the scenery in which Wilhelm is changes. He looks at pictures of him and Simon, in the next scene he goes on a walk (alone) while the sun is setting. As a viewer you want to give him the biggest hug you can, you feel the loneliness through the screen, you can feel the hurting that he is going through.

 

Another song that is connected to a show stopping scene (as Edvin Ryding and Omar Rudberg called it) is “Holy” by Elias. A scene in which Simon and Wilhelm lose themselves in love and passion supported by the words “It takes a god to prove I’m wrong. To say that I don’t belong.” and the repetition of the word “holy”. To me this can be interpreted in so many different ways. First of all, the musical part fits really well, but to me there is so much more. Underneath the beautiful fictional storyline YR is also part of a movement (maybe even started a movement itself). It is part of pride; it is part of a protest which is so incredibly important. For me, the combination of this song and this scene also spreads the message that you are loved no matter who you are and that you are loved and astonishing just the way you are. You are loved because you are capable of loving and not because of who you love. You are valued, you are enough and you are important; love is love!

 

With “Seize the power” by YONAKA the title already says it. In a way Wilhelm is trying to get back the power over his own life, but one day he (probably) will be king himself. Between you and me, I somehow truly believe that in this storyline Wilhelm will make a great king someday! “I’m that voice in your head, … when you find me, let me in. I got power in my hands, and it’s yours for the taking”; to me these words fit really well just because it feels as if, throughout the whole second season, Wilhelm is finding a way to get a better understanding of what is going on around him. In the end it’s him who uses the “power” he has for the better. He chooses love, he chooses Simon and he chooses himself not knowing what the consequences will be, but ready to try to take on what the world will give to him (or them). To my mind this is one of the bravest things he could’ve done in his situation this season.

 

Last but not least I would like to dive into the song “The most beautiful boy”, it is the song that is used in the trailer for the second season and the song also supports said seasons ending. In episode four, right after the moment in which Wilhelm hears “Simon’s Song” for the first time, “The most beautiful boy” is also played. This makes sure that the song supports two moments in which happiness is the predominant emotion. The lyrics are simple yet beautiful, “And you loved me, I could feel it, because I loved you, can’t eclipse it, it goes on”; I believe it honestly also symbolizes the connection Simon and Wilhelm have, even in hard times or times in which they aren’t together.

 

The developing of the story

The Wilhelm that comes back to Hillerska after the winter break is lovesick, but it is also a guy who has to deal with so many things at the same time, who has so much going on in his head. He tries to do the right thing, but it seems as if it never works out the way he wants it to, as if happiness is not on his side. He feels guilty for all he has, which doesn’t exactly make it easier. At first it sounds very appealing, to abdicate to throne, the moment he hears this as a possibility. I can’t help but feel as if it is not what he truly wants, but if he has to be/is crown prince, he needs it to be on his terms. With the people he loves around him which obviously includes Simon. Although this of course is very far interpreted by me. If it wasn’t clear before, then it is clear after the very first episode in season two that Wilhelm’s problem is not that he is queer, but that he is the crown prince of Sweden.

 

The loneliness that Wilhelm feels is so well depicted and Edvin Ryding (Wilhelm in YR) does an incredible job by expressing this lonely feeling, the anxiety, the anger and the fears while also showing that Wilhelm is just a normal teenager who struggles with the things that are part of that phase in life. While the queen tells him that they (his mom and dad) love him exactly as he is, it doesn’t make it much better because at the end of the day the royal court still has other plans.

Mostly because, let’s just face it, they are scared of the consequences that change will inevitably bring.

As Wilhelm says.

Simon tries to move on, with a guy named Marcus. His mind tells him that he should pursue that relationship, but the reality is that he’s not in love with Marcus. His heart tells him that he’s (still) in love with Wilhelm even though the world and his daily life seems to tell him that it won’t work.

 

Episode four becomes kind of a turning point, Wilhelm finally starts to realise that he has to let Simon go even though it breaks his heart all over again. When the ball where everyone dresses up as people from the 18^th century comes closer, he is even dressed as a prince. He is lonely, while also alone and I’m sure that he wants to do the right thing, but because of his upbringing he just has a very narrow view on what he can share. He feels like he has to keep everything inside, the viewer really gets to see this during the appointments Wilhelm has with his psychologist, but also in the moments where he is alone, it feels like he is fighting with himself at some point. The anxiety gets the worst in the moments where he is alone.

 

Simon takes Marcus to this said ball; Wilhelm tries to be as nice as possible because he has made it his mission to let Simon go. Something in Simon switches though, or maybe he becomes “weak” the moment Wilhelm tells him that he understands that Simon doesn’t love him anymore. In the garden, during the ball, they kiss, and if you would have to pick an initiator, I would say that it is Simon who initiated that kiss.

 

So much emotion and love is locked right into that kiss. Simon kisses Wilhelm while he is dressed as a guy from the 18^th century, which kind of could be a prince. Is Simon starting to accept that he is in love with the crown prince and that this will always be a part of Wilhelm? Maybe. Afterwards Simon feels like an “idiot” because he really wanted to kiss Wilhelm. Honestly, sometimes those easy explanations are the most powerful ones. I believe that this proves once again that in this scenario they are blessed to have both passion and love while also finding their way towards understanding each other, themselves and the world around them.

 

This “understanding” becomes even clearer when they talk about the book “Kris” written by Karin Boye. They talk about the story to their teacher and the story can be projected on the one they are going through at that moment in time. With every sentence the both of them say they somehow do both, they apologise and show understanding towards each other. Which is a beautiful example of their communication, which is (still) such a strong part of their relationship.

 

Those final scenes

The day of the jubilee. The hopeless romantic in me (almost) screamed while watching the scene where Simon tells Wilhelm that he wants them to be together. I believe it first of all shows that he feels that the love they share is stronger than the obstacles that will be in their way. He takes back the part of not wanting to be someone’s secret, and with this the choice of taking their relationship to the public is in Wilhelm’s hands while either way having the support and love from Simon. The “I love you” (Jag alskär dig), now words Simon says to Wilhelm, is one of the many parallels to season one.

 

During the jubilee Wilhelm starts with telling the speech that is given to him, but at some point, he starts his own speech. Which in the end comes down to the fact that he announces that it was him in the video that got leaked to the world; that it was him there with Simon. I find it very quick-witted how he reflects on what he is going to say, especially when he says that it was a moment that he just didn’t want to share and lied about it because of that. He is conscious about what he is doing and he knows the power he has. He’s still protecting the royal court, even if it is in a different way than they might have wanted. He doesn’t say that the royal court pressured him into lying, he makes it look as if it was all his choice, as if he lied because only he was scared of the consequences.

 

I think that it doesn’t even need to be said, but the look and the smiles that Simon and Wilhelm share afterwards are gorgeous, the world around them disappears for a moment. They are proud of the love they share and of what they have even if there could be or will be complicated times in the future. One them probably starting right in that moment, because they don’t know how the reactions will be. While Wilhelm is in the process of turning his head back to the public his eyes look up, my mind went straight to thinking that he was looking up to his brother, to Erik. I have no doubt that he would’ve been very proud of his little brother. The look that Wilhelm gives to the camera/the public afterwards, the one in which the corner of his mouth twitched into a very small smile really says:

we are ready world, bring it on, give us what you’ve got!

 

Fingers crossed that there will be a renewal for Young Royals and that they get to make a third season, because while this ending wasn’t bad, I would love to see where this “Revolution” will take us as viewers, but also the characters on screen. And between you and me, I would love to see Simon and Wilhelm in a happy relationship conquering the world together for at least two episodes (and a happy ending is inevitable I would say ;)). Because at this point I think we all agree that these two, even with all they have to go through, are meant to be together, soulmates from the first order.

 

You might be like me, you might watch a series because you think the storyline sounds interesting, you like the actors or the trailer intrigued you. Diversity and representation of the LGBTQ+ community can already be part of your normalcy. But remember, the show you watch like any other show might be some else’s literal lifesaver, because they see themselves on screen for one of the first times. They feel a little bit more seen and a little bit more valued, it shows them that they are not alone. It tells them that they are amazing because they are unique and that they are enough just as they are. 

 

Representation matters, it is part of the way towards more acceptance in today’s society and I’ll be shouting it from the rooftops for as long as I have to. Until people feel safe enough to be who they are, until people can be unapologetically themselves.